NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1975 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 275

SENATE BILL 352

 

 

AN ACT TO MAKE TECHNICAL REVISIONS TO CHAPTER 105 OF THE GENERAL STATUTES PERTAINING TO TAXATION.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  G.S. 105-7(a) is amended by rewriting the same to read as follows:

"(a)       A tax in addition to the inheritance tax imposed by this schedule is hereby imposed upon the transfer of the net estate of every decedent, whether a resident or nonresident of the State, where the inheritance tax imposed by this schedule is less than the maximum state death tax credit allowed by the Federal Estate Tax Act as contained in the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, or subsequent acts and amendments, because of said tax herein imposed. In such case, the inheritance tax provided for by this schedule shall be increased by an estate tax on the net estate so that the aggregate amount of tax due this State shall be the maximum amount of credit allowed under said Federal Estate Tax Act. Said additional tax shall be paid out of the same funds as any other tax against the estate."

Sec. 2.  G.S. 105-113.10 is amended by rewriting the last sentence thereof to read as follows:

"However, the Secretary may permit monthly reports from the manufacturer instead of requiring stamps to be affixed to packages of free cigarettes given as complimentary samples by the manufacturer, but only if the package has been imprinted with the words 'State tax paid'."

Sec. 3.  G.S. 105-113.86(v) is amended by rewriting the same to read as follows:

"(v)       For purposes of subsection (p), the term municipality includes any urban service district defined by the governing body of a consolidated city-county, and the amount due thereby shall be distributed to the government of the consolidated city-county."

Sec. 4.  Article 4 of Subchapter I, Chapter 105 of the General Statutes, is amended by:

(a)        rewriting the first paragraph of G.S. 105-130.3 to read as follows:

"Every corporation doing business in this State shall pay annually an income tax equivalent to six percent (6%) of its net income or the portion thereof allocated and apportioned to this State. The net income or net loss of such corporation shall be the same as 'taxable income' as defined in the Internal Revenue Code in effect on January 1, 1975, subject to the adjustments provided in G.S. 105-130.5."

(b)        rewriting G.S. 105-141(b)(12) to read as follows:

"Compensation received for active service as a member of the armed forces of the United States below the grade of commissioned officer; and so much of the compensation of a commissioned officer in such armed forces as does not exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00), for any month during any part of which such member served in a combat zone, or was hospitalized as a result of wounds, disease, or injury incurred while serving in a combat zone, except that this subdivision shall not apply with respect to compensation received while such member was hospitalized for any month beginning more than two years after the date of the termination of combatant activities in such zone. With respect to service in the combat zone designated for purposes of the Vietnam conflict, this subdivision shall not apply with respect to compensation received while such member was hospitalized for any month beginning after January 2, 1977. For the purposes of this subdivision, the term 'commissioned officer' does not include a warrant officer; the term 'combat zone' means an area which the President of the United States by executive order designates as an area in which armed forces of the United States are or have been engaged in combat; service is performed in a combat zone only if performed on or after the date designated by the President by executive order as the date of the commencing of combatant activities in such zone; and the term 'compensation' does not include pension and retirement pay."

Sec. 5.  Article 7 of Subchapter I, Chapter 105 of the General Statutes, is amended by:

(a)        rewriting the first paragraph of G.S. 105-203 in its entirety, to read as follows:

"All shares of stock (including shares and units of ownership of mutual funds, investment trusts and investment funds) owned by residents of this State or having a business, commercial or taxable situs in this State on December 31 of each year, with the exception herein provided, shall be subject to an annual tax which is hereby levied, of twenty-five cents (25˘) on every one hundred dollars ($100.00) of the total fair market value of such stock on December 31 of each year less such proportion of such value as is equal to the proportion of the dividends upon such stock deductible by such taxpayer in computing his income tax liability under the provisions of G.S. 105-130.7 and 105-147(7)."

(b)        adding at the end of the third paragraph of G.S. 105-206, a new sentence to read as follows:

"Furthermore, the intangible personal property of the estate of any resident of North Carolina shall be deemed to have a taxable situs in this State, and a nonresident administrator or executor of such an estate shall be subject to the requirements of this Article or schedule in the same manner and to the same extent as a resident administrator or executor."

Sec. 6.  G.S. 105-164.3(19) is amended by rewriting the same to read as follows:

"(19)    'Storage' and 'use'; exclusion. — 'Storage' and 'use' do not include the keeping, retaining or exercising of any right or power over tangible personal property by the purchaser thereof for the original purpose of subsequently transporting it outside the State for use by said purchaser thereafter solely outside the State and which purpose is consummated, or for the purpose of being processed, fabricated or manufactured into, attached to or incorporated into, other tangible personal property to be transported outside the State and thereafter used by the purchaser thereof solely outside the State."

Sec. 7.  G.S. 105-259 is amended:

(a)        By rewriting the first paragraph thereof to read as follows:

"With respect to any one of the following persons:

(1)        the Secretary of Revenue and all other officers or employees, and former officers and employees, of the Department of Revenue; and

(2)        local tax authorities (as defined in G.S. 105-289(e)) and former local tax authorities;

and except in accordance with proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, it shall be unlawful for any of said persons to divulge or make known in any manner the amount of income, income tax or other taxes of any taxpayer, or information relating thereto or from which the amount of income, income tax or other taxes or any part thereof might be determined, deduced or estimated, whether the same be set forth or disclosed in or by means of any report or return required to be filed or furnished under this Subchapter, or in or by means of any audit, assessment, application, correspondence, schedule or other document relating to such taxpayer, notwithstanding the provisions of Chapter 132 of the General Statutes or of any other law or laws relating to public records. It shall likewise be unlawful to reveal whether or not any taxpayer has filed a return, and to abstract, compile or furnish to any person, firm or corporation not otherwise entitled to information relating to the amount of income, income tax or other taxes of a taxpayer, any list of names, addresses, social security numbers or other personal information concerning such taxpayer, whether or not such list discloses a taxpayer's income, income tax or other taxes, or any part thereof, except that when an election is made by a husband and wife under G.S. 105-152(e) to file their separate returns on a single form, or in order to determine an exemption allowable under G.S. 105-149(a)(2), any information given to one spouse concerning the income or income tax of the other spouse reported or reportable on such single return or on separate returns shall not be a violation of the provisions of this section."

(b)        By rewriting the fourth paragraph thereof to read as follows:

"Any person, officer, agent, clerk, employee, local tax authority or former officer, employee or local tax authority violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not less than two hundred dollars ($200.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) and/or imprisoned, in the discretion of the court; and if such offending person be a public officer or employee, he shall be dismissed from such office or employment, and shall not hold any public office or employment in this State for a period of five years thereafter."

Sec. 8.  G.S. 105-269.2 is amended by rewriting the first paragraph thereof to read as follows:

"The Tax Review Board shall be composed of the following members: (1) the State Treasurer, ex officio, who shall be chairman of the board; (2) the chairman of the Utilities Commission, ex officio; (3) a member appointed by the Governor; and (4) the Secretary of Revenue, ex officio, who shall be a member only for the purposes stated in G.S. 105-122 and G.S. 105-130.4. The member whom the Governor shall appoint shall serve for a term of four years and until his successor is appointed and qualified. The first such appointment shall be made for a term beginning on July 1, 1975."

Sec. 9.  G.S. 105-289(e) is amended by rewriting the same to read as follows:

"(e)       In accordance with regulations that may be adopted by it, the Department of Revenue may make available to local tax authorities any information contained in any report to it or to any other State department, or any other information that the Department may have in its possession that may assist local tax authorities in securing complete tax listings, appraising taxable property, and presenting information in administrative and judicial proceedings involving the listing, appraisal and taxation of property.

(1)        Information furnished to local tax authorities under the provisions of this subdivision (e) shall be used only for the purposes hereinabove set forth. Such information shall not be divulged or made public except as required in administrative or judicial proceedings under this Subchapter. Any local tax authority making improper use or disclosure of information obtained under this provision shall be subject to the provisions of G.S. 105-259, including the penalties set forth therein.

(2)        Except as provided in this subsection (e), and except to the Governor and his authorized agent, and except to a solicitor or the authorized agent of a solicitor of a district in which such information would affect the listing or appraisal of property for taxation, neither the Department nor the Commission shall divulge or make public the reports made to it or to other State departments. (The provisions of this subsection shall not interfere with the publication of appraisals, assessments, or statistics by the Department or decisions made by the Commission, nor shall the provisions of this subsection prevent presentation of such information in any administrative or judicial proceeding involving appraisals, assessments or decisions of the Commission.)

(3)        For the purposes of this subsection, 'local tax authorities' shall include county tax supervisors, assistant tax supervisors, members of county boards of commissioners, tax commissions, boards of equalization and review, and the municipal equivalents of such persons."

Sec. 10.  Sections 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 9 shall be effective upon ratification. Sections 4(a) and 5 shall be effective with respect to taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 1975. Section 4(b) shall be effective with respect to taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 1973. Section 8 shall be effective on July 1, 1975.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 13th day of May, 1975.